Ruining the Past
by Rakusa
Summary: Rini has grown up in a world where we can only imagine and even that isn't accurate to the beauty of it. She has a wonderful mother, but sadly no father.
1. Chapter 1

Ruining the Past

8.2.2012

AN: I can't believe I'm going to do this. I mean I've tempted Rini-based fics before, but they never got pass the first page. Some of them were surprisingly good ideas and if it weren't Rini then I'd probably have finished them. However I try not to use her at all in the first place. So bare with me, this is going to take some getting used to...

AN2: Before you get on me about mixing the names, again, it's my prerogative. I like keeping things unique and there is a reason for all of it.

Summary: Reni has grown up in a world where we can only imagine and even that isn't accurate to the beauty of it. She has a wonderful mother, but sadly no father.

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Chapter 1

The wind ruffled her hair, making it fly and stick to her wet face. She reached up a hand to snatch it back and tilted her face up so the breeze could dry her tears. The flowers around her chimed as they brushed one another. With her free hand, she ran her fingers over the smooth surface. She shifted on the green blades of grass beneath her. They too were smooth and when pressed together like this, were soft. It was impossible to cut, not that anyone even thought to try, but the flowers were quite pretty and each were different, even if made of the same material.

She looked out over the ledge at the city down below, the city made out of the same material. From her spot, on the last cliff before the walls, she had an advantage to see it all. The sun was high in the sky and it threw its light onto all below it. The city was dazzling. It radiated warmth as color groupings made for a very beautiful picture. Each building sparkled and gleamed. There was one that stood out like none other.

At the other end of the city, there was a building that was the only clear one. From this distance one could even think it silver or white. It was the palace. It dwarfed the others in size but it housed so many that it could be forgiven. It was an honor to live in the palace. Those that lived there were thought to be pure with nothing to hide. Those were the chosen ones.

She lived there, but she did not think of herself in quite those terms. Only females were chosen. She had been born into it. As so often before, she wished she could be one of those living in another house, a house that wasn't quite so transparent.

There were rooms in the palace that were dense and difficult to see through, but they were few and only for the modesty of those who wanted it. Every building in this city was made out of crystal, hence the name, Crystal Tokyo. Once there stood another city by the name of Tokyo, and there had been a palace there too, but all of that was gone now, destroyed eons ago.

The density of crystal and the color often obscured the inhabitants from the outside world and while it was lovely with the sun reflecting off of it, it was nothing compared to when the sun went down and lights started flickering on inside.

Reni often sat up here, watching it, curious by who turned on the lights first and amused that it was often different every time. This was her spot, but she was no different than anyone else who had the opportunity to see this sight. Everyone's breath was caught by the sheer loveliness. Not one single person in the entire planet, nay, in the entire universe, could see this and turn away with a scoff. Not one person could see this and wish for another sight, claim that it wasn't the most beautiful thing they'd ever seen before. Not even those who had seen it every day for their entire life, who were old and weak and had seen many other wonders before it. It was a dazzle of light and colors and it was always changing. It was the best thing about this place.

This place that was so restricting for a young girl. Not in terms of rules or laws, but to reach out and embrace herself. She could not take flight and push boundaries, she was conscious of the fact that she was stuck and could go nowhere else. There were plenty of places to go, but none that she could venture off to. This is where she was born, this is where she lived and this is where she would be for the rest of her life.

Reni would have loved this place, she acknowledged that, if it weren't for the circumstances in which she lived. If things were just slightly different, she wouldn't always be looking at the horizon, wondering what else was out there. If she'd finally get to be herself without fear of being ostracize. And she was denied all of that, because of who she is.

Another wave of sobs rose up within her, waiting to be unleashed due to her thoughts. She tried to bite it down, tried to stop the thought process, tears weren't solving anything. She didn't know anyone else who was sad. At least not because of these reasons. Her mother was sad all the time, though she tried to hide it, tried to smile brightly whenever Reni entered the room. There was never a moment that the hurt didn't linger in her mother's blue eyes.

Then there were the scars. Not just the emotional ones, but the physical too. Her mother was a very beautiful woman, she had the body, the poise, the grace, everything a leader should have of this free world. But there were scars that marred the flesh, stopped the beauty short from being out of this world. The scars were hard enough to get passed, they were created ages ago, but never quite healed or faded, always a strong visual reminder of what it had taken her to get here.

They were all that way. All of them that had come out of the fight. The fight that had cost them everything only to gain so much more. But was it really worth it, Reni wondered? To fight for so long, and come up with this? Sure it was beautiful, sure it was peaceful and nobody here fought, not like they had in the old days. But then what, to continue living their ancient lives, knowing that the future would be the same as it had been every day for the last century? That they would live for a long time before slowly fading away? Never knowing when. A peaceful life with nothing to strive for had to get boring, quick, especially as they didn't have families.

Sure she had her mother and her mother had her, but Reni couldn't help but think there was something more, something just beyond the scope of all of this. All the people in the city were happy, they had no worries or fears except the trivial and universal and would never leave. Like if the girl down the street liked the baker, if their children would grow up into the career path their parents held, if they would get a bigger house if they charmed the right person. The answer to the last one being no, because there were no bigger houses, everyone had the same size unless they had a larger family under the age.

Reni didn't know anything for sure, she had never seen war or hate or hardship. The only hardship she knew was life and its ever changing complexities. The friendships she had and had to fight to maintain. Her life of privilege no different than anyone else, only a change in location, was often at root of her being treated like an outcast. It was only privilege on the outside. Nobody knew about the within, despite the clear crystal walls unfolding everything for anyone to see, if they'd look. Her life's background, the beginning, well, that was different too.

She had been born before Crystal Tokyo was erected. Only just though. Days after her birth, or so the story went, her mother and father created this place of safety and haven. Outside the city's walls there lied beasts of prey, humans who did not share the desire for peace. Monsters who would kill you in an instant. So nobody ventured out and all were weary of those who came in. They were weary of her too, unsure what to make of this child who was born before even the elders in the city. The only ones older than her were those who reared her. The fortunate women who oversaw this land and kept them protected, though not many tried to break down the walls of the city.

All were free to leave and to come back. Those on the outside who wanted refuge, were not refused. Visitors came from different planets, all marveled at the engineering that was magically fused to create this haven. They all left again, eventually, giving Reni only glimpses into a life outside of this realm. They all gently refused her wishes to travel with them. She was too young.

Only one returned every year, days after her birth. Every year he smiled at her warmly but did not bid her to come closer. Every year he left the next day. Every year her mother took herself off to her room during his visit and had a crying fit, tears her companion until she slept.

Every year, Reni stood in her mother's doorway, tears on her face, not knowing why she too cried, only that she felt her mother's grief. The day was fast approaching and Reni was aware that her birthday lied in only a week's time. In body, for the third year in a row, she would be turning eight. In spirit and mind, she would be turning a hundred and twenty-two.

The children of Crystal Tokyo aged slower than they used to, or so the story went, but Reni was different, Reni was an offspring of her mother and the other guardians of the city. Reni aged far slower and watched the children age into teenage bodies, emotions running high, hormones going crazy, her friends falling in love with each other, growing into adults, having kids of their own, growing old, even die. People still died and she was forever a child.

"Not forever, little duck." Her mother's soft voice came from behind her and Reni whipped around, wondering if she spoke out loud. She was greeted with a smile that didn't reach the blues of her eyes, and her blond hair gleamed in the sun's full shine. Reni thought again about how beautiful her mother was. "You are getting older. You just don't see it, not knowing what it was like before, not knowing the baby I held in my arms."

"I was a baby for long enough to remember what I looked like." Reni bit back. Her mother wasn't the problem, the woman already suffered enough with her unspoken pain, but she was the reason Reni was like this, she had her, after all. The smile faltered off the woman's face and tears entered her eyes. "I'm sorry Mom, really. Don't cry. I didn't mean to make you cry."

"No, its not you." Her mother's hand came out and stroked her pink head. "I wish you hadn't dyed your hair. It was such a beautiful brown before and paired with your blue eyes, it was a striking combination."

"Everybody has neon color hair. I only wanted to fit in."

There was a deep breath being released from her mother's chest. "I am crying because your words hit home. I have seen you grow, you have seen yourself, when nobody has a precedence for your aging and yet there is someone still who should have, who deserves to see you but cannot."

"My father." Reni stated calmly, perhaps now her mother would share with her all that she'd held back for the last hundred years.

"Yes, your father." The blue eyes looked away, looked down at the dress she was wearing. Her fingers rifled through the blades of grass.

Reni couldn't help but think her mother meant someone else, but who could that possibly be? Her father was the one that was missing, she saw it in all the families she watched grow up. Her father wasn't there with her, to hold her on his shoulders, to teach her things about boys, only a man could know. But he'd have centuries to do so, he might forget to if he were still alive. "Please, tell me about him."

"He was a great man, strong, dependable, loved deeply." The eyes shifted up to look at her and hold her gaze. "I see a lot of him in you. He was very smart and he was sometimes difficult to read. He would have loved you and protected you like he protected all things dear to him."

"But what were his favorite things? What did he like to do? Do I have similar tastes in food, people, clothes, what?"

The woman stood up so she was her full height. "Enough questions, young lady. You have been out here long enough. It is time to get in and find Ami, she is wondering where you have gone off to."

"Lessons mother, can wait when I have all eternity to live. I want to know more about my father. I want to know more about his life. I have a right to know."

"Yes you do, but I cannot share with you all the things you want to know. I didn't know him as well as I should have. I can't tell you those answers." She was retreating back into that emotionally distant shell, the part where Reni no matter what she tried to do, she couldn't reach. "You are so much like him, its scary sometimes."

"But am I like you at all?" Reni had tried to emulate her mother as best she could, despite it all, Reni respected and wanted to be like the woman she saw.

"Yes little duck, you have some of my traits, but you've learned all of those." Her mother was formidable without trying. She was a great strategist and was so strong, so tough. Her mother was a born leader and she lead well. Everybody liked her and respected her. Not one person would go against her wishes. Reni wouldn't be the first.

Reni stood up and followed her mother, who paused to brush her backside from where she sat, but it was strange, there was nothing there. Must have been a reflex carried over from before the change. Before dirt and grass were eradicated as people knew them. Reni only knew because of pictures and stories from the women of skinned knees, dirt in wounds, stains on clothes that wouldn't come out. Now all of that was gone, now things were dealt with quickly and cleanly. No stain could beat Makoto. Not that she did much laundry these days.

Reni walked along side her mother through the streets. There were no crowns, nothing outward except maybe their poise that would indicate that they were any different than the rest on the street. Not that they needed anything to indicate, all who saw them knew, how could they not with their faces unchanging for over a century? But for a change, Reni's mind wasn't on them or trying to hide behind her mother's taller figure, no, her thoughts were on how to get more information out of anyone that could give it to her.

She'd tried asking many times, straight out about information about her father. All of it to no avail. They all either neatly side-stepped her or told her blank-faced not to ask any more. For all it seemed too painful. Reni thought it was the worst for her mother, but maybe she had just been to close to the issue. Maybe she should watch the others over the next few days instead. Though it wouldn't make any sense for the others to feel the pain her mother felt about her father. Reni just had to observe though so she could understand more.

But that didn't help in the meantime, she wanted more information about the man that was gone from their lives. Since asking about him didn't seem to do anything for her, she had to think of something else. He was from before Crystal Tokyo, so she couldn't use any props, but maybe she could ask about that. What life was like for them before Crystal Tokyo. Maybe segue into it through their fights back then, what it had been like, what happened to create Crystal Tokyo. They never hid the history from anyone that asked. Maybe she had been alive too long and didn't bother to ask, others would have, but their time ran out faster. They had to fit more in on a shorter time scale.

Reni beat down the smile of triumph that wanted to cross her lips, her mother would see and think something was up. Reni didn't want to shoot herself in the foot before she got anywhere. She wanted to see how things went and if she could get anything out of them. Ami wouldn't be a good place to start, she was too smart and would catch on too quickly.

That's when she saw her, the weak link, the hothead of the group. Rei, the one that Reni pieced together that she was named after, her godmother. Rei would tell her all that she needed to know. This time, when her birthday rolled around, she would know more about her father. She would not be daunted easily. She would stick with it until she got all the information she wanted, even if it might hurt, she would find out the truth.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Rei it seemed was not as easy to get information out of as she thought. Rei could be pretty tight lipped about things if she wanted to be. So Reni gave up on trying to find out more from her. But as she walked away from the black-haired woman, all of them were so beautiful in their own ways, she couldn't help but notice the trace of tears that were swallowed down to be replaced with a look of fire. Reni had only given up after asking point-blank about the man everyone refused to talk about. As if talking about him would open up a can of vicious vipers or something.

Had he not been as great of a man as her mother had made him out to be? Her mother had only given her that much information because she had seen Reni crying, looking so sad about life in general, that she tossed her daughter something else to mull over.

Reni slipped into the gym and found a punching bag that was Makoto's favorite. She started taking out all her frustration on it. "Hey duckling." Makoto used her mother's nickname, but a morph of it. Her mother never said anything against it. "What's the matter? Kids giving you a hard time again for being different?"

"No." Reni hit the bag again. "Nobody is telling me anything, but everyone tells my mother everything. I thought she said I was like her."

"Like your mother?" Makoto asked in surprise. "Well of course you're like her, that's what makes it so hard."

"What do you mean?"

"We love you, Reni, for you being you alone. Just because you're just like your parents at the most inconvenient moments just means that its harder to discipline you or ignore you. You are so much like your mother, it hurts."

"But my mother is someone everyone loves." Reni countered. "So why would it hurt?"

Makoto seemed to mull over her question, trying to find the best words. "Well, you like your mother, right?"

"Of course."

"And when she tells you to do something, can you say no?"

"Never." Reni responded without needing to think of it.

"Now imagine that face on a child, someone that you're supposed to boss around."

Reni's lips twisted around. "I suppose it would make things rather difficult, I can't imagine trying to boss my mother."

"Exactly." Makoto ruffled her hair.

"But she said I learned all my traits, not that I had them naturally."

"You have far more traits from your mother than you could ever know, and I guarantee that they aren't learned." Makoto told her in a way that was so honest that Reni couldn't do anything but believe her.

Reni stopped hitting the bag and turned to look at Makoto curiously. "Why do you call me duckling, Rei calls me ducks and mom calls me little duck."

"That's an easy answer." Makoto tugged on Reni's hair. "Your mom loved ducks."

"And since they're not around anymore, I suppose I'll have to do." Reni scowled even as Makoto laughed. "Can you tell me about him? My father?"

"No." Makoto didn't have any other words to cushion it. "I'm afraid that's something I can't do. I wish I could, but I'm afraid I don't know too much about him except what your mother has already told you. He and I weren't exactly, close. The only one he was really close to was your mother."

"Can you tell me about the fights, before Crystal Tokyo? What they were like? What a normal one would consist of?"

"Hmm..." Makoto paused to consider it. "You'd be learning about your parents, however remotely. But I suppose I could do that. It is after all what I'm supposed to be training you for, in case something ever happened and you needed to pick up where we left off."

"Please? Makoto you'd be the best aunt ever!"

Makoto had her sit on the mat and Makoto joined her, folding her legs through one another. "Let's see, I can tell you about one of my favorite fights. I enjoyed them, anyone would tell you that much, though your mother was a completely different story..."

"But she seems like she'd face anything head on, and win."

Makoto's mouth quirked up. "Oh she did that. I can assure you there wasn't a fight your mother left without being the victor. Let's see... I had to have been about sixteen at the time." And Makoto weaved a story for Reni like the woman was talking to her plants, completely undisturbed by the fact that there was a listener and that others wouldn't come in and disrupt.

They were at the zoo and a blond was oohing over the penguins. "I just saw like four penguin movies!" Her arm was looped around a young man's and she kept tugging him back whenever he moved towards another exhibit. "Look, that one has a crown, like a king."

"They're called emperor penguins, Odango." Rei snapped, though the man was taking it all in patiently and wasn't forcing her on.

"Wait, I thought this was about a fight?" Reni interrupted.

"It is, Rei and your mother used to squabble all the time."

"I meant a fight like with the monsters, not between my mom and godmother."

Makoto laughed. "I'm getting to it, but I always liked these fights too if they never got blood-thirsty on Rei's part. I hated when your mother cried. But let's fast-forward to the actual fight that you're interested in."

At the zoo there were inflatable animals and bendy men that were human size if not bigger. They were possessed by the enemy they were facing at the time and the inflatables were animated. They came alive and started attacking people that were walking passed them, unaware that they could pose harm. The senshi were all separated and Jupiter was facing off two of those inflates. One was a kangaroo and the other was a shark.

The kangaroo kept going back on its tail and kicking Jupiter away, sending her flying until Jupiter realized she could use that to her advantage. "It was so much fun pounding on that thing, it was like my own personal punching bag that gave me the challenge of fighting back or moving around. It was a lot of fun." Then Makoto scowled. "Until I popped it." It fizzed out and laid on the ground, its feet still twitching but with no punch to it.

"The shark, on the other hand-" Makoto started laughing, hard. "I felt bad for it, it was just flopping there, trying to be mean and ruthless, but it was a fish, quite literally, out of water. So I just picked it up by its tail and after a few spins, let it go flying. I think it landed in some water, but by then your mother managed to destroy the main attraction and it turned back into an inflate. The guy selling them where I was, tried telling me I had to pay for the ones I damaged. As if."

Reni looked at Makoto as if she'd just had the biggest disappointment of her life.

"What?" Makoto questioned.

"That wasn't very informative. That was just the funniest fight you could recall at the top of your head."

"Well it was pretty funny, but sorry kid, if you wanted information about your parents you shouldn't have interrupted my original introduction. I was telling you about them. Your dad, well he was a force to be reckoned with. He was a fierce protector and he loved your mother with all his heart. For her, and her alone, he was soft. The only reason we knew of that side was because we got to see it in action with her. Otherwise I would have called your father a hundred different names, none of them all that great, except he did all right by her and so I can't give you any other view of him."

"He was a jerk otherwise?"

"Not a jerk, per se..." Makoto hesitated. "I'm not sure how to explain it. He wasn't purposefully mean or rude to others but it was very much his way or he'd make you see it his way."

"What did he look like?"

"Sorry duckling. Can't tell you that."

"Because that's a big secret or something? What, you never saw him out of his costume?"

"No, because it's for your own safety, that's why."

"Why would knowing what my father look like, jeopardize my safety? He's dead, remember? Or am I the only one who realizes this? What could anything about him do to me? Even if someone wanted to use me to get to him, they can't, because, wait for it, he's dead!"

Makoto shook her head. "We're done for the day, go on."

Reni about tore her hair out in frustration and she stomped off, ignoring the fact that even when the doors closed behind her, Makoto could still see her. Actually she did the opposite of ignore, she used it to her advantage, even if her advantage was childish, that's what she was after all, a child, one in a small body and never taken serious, and not to mention all the emotions a child had, though she hid them better than most. Reni turned and made a face at the tall girl. She didn't deserve it, but Reni was upset and that made her feel marginally better. It only infuriated her more when Makoto broke out laughing and Reni finished her stomp away. She didn't see when Makoto turned and her face crumpled and fought bravely against the tears threatening to well up.

Reni didn't see it and if she had, she would have felt instantly contrite. She didn't want to make anyone cry, and she wouldn't believe it either as Makoto never cried and had just been laughing at her!

Then she was running. She ran smack dab into a female body and she looked up an apology dying on her lips. The aqua haired woman had tears in her eyes. "Reni, what are you doing sweetheart?" If anyone could beat her mother on soft tones, it was this woman.

"I'm running away." Reni stated determinedly. "I'm sick of all of you." She could tell Michiru as this was the only woman who would understand and not dare breath a word.

"I'm sure your mother would be very sad to hear that." Michiru reached out and smoothed back Reni's pink head. "Do you know why my hair is aqua?"

"Because you were born with it like Ami?" Reni stated mulishly. "The two of you fit in better than any of the rest of us."

Michiru laughed and shook her head. "Nope, I was just a result of bad timing. If you can believe it, I wanted to be a blond." A smile hitched up Michiru's lips, pushing the tears away temporarily. "See I had three very important role models in my life and they all happened to be blond. It was my one folly into trying to be like everyone else and not being myself. I paid for it and for several years I was angry at the world and myself, but because of it, I realized that it became a part of me when it didn't fade, that it made me unique and nobody else in the entire world was like me."

"But its not permanent." Reni objected. "It's already starting to show roots."

"It's better not to have permanent pink hair." Michiru countered. "Everybody else has electric colored hair. Brown is different."

"The story doesn't jive." Reni ignored the woman, she'd known all of them for too long to really take anything they said into consideration. "You were trying to conform and because of a mistake, it made you better. You're not who you were and you're not anyone else, so the moral is to change." Reni felt betrayed that this woman was trying to change her.

"Reni-" Michiru sighed and straightened up. "Just be happy, please?"

"Why are you sad?" Reni demanded.

"I lost someone very important to me today several years ago." Michiru took a deep steadying breath.

"My father?" Reni questioned confused. "But he didn't die until after my birth."

"Sadly, no." Michiru shook her head. "It was someone even closer than your father."

"Who?"

Michiru gave her a disengaging smile and walked away without an answer. Reni watched her walk gracefully off and when she was several panels of crystal away Reni slid down the wall and stared mutinously at the crystal in front of her. It acted as a window but it disoriented the shapes that lay beyond as several halls were empty until the one that wasn't. People were just going about their daily lives. These women that had a hand in raising her were no help, nobody wanted to share a single thing to her about her father and what life was like before this place. They all treated her like a child who needed to be protected, but protected from what?

"I want answers!" Reni screamed and heat started boiling in her chest, she was sooooo angry! She was a hundred and twenty-two years old. If she wasn't entitled to answers, who was. Another scream boiled up into her lungs and she let it rip. It bounced off the planes of crystal, echoed around her, deafening her and slipping along the corridors to reach, somebody.

There was only clear crystal in front of her, she could clearly see what was just beyond it, knew there was just another passage, that the crystal was only part of an inch thick. But when it slid sideways and there was only inky blackness within, she blinked in confusion, her scream cutting off without warning and silence reigned. The darkness beckoned her.

Reni stood up and walked towards it, but she hesitated before taking that final step in. She froze in the doorway, afraid of what lay beyond, but also that standing there would disappear, that the door would shut on her. But it was more important to find out what this was, she couldn't let this opportunity slip through her fingers.

Reni took a deep breath and took that last step. The door slid shut behind her. She spun and there was only more blackness. She truly wasn't in the palace anymore.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Where am I?" Reni called out to the emptiness. "I'm getting angry, this isn't funny!" There was still no response. "Hello?" Her tone turned sharp and showed what she was feeling within. "Anyone here?"

"Anger will get you no where. Acting out like a child isn't the best way to proving to the world that you aren't." A voice, sounding old but strong at the same time, an odd conundrum, sounded behind her and Reni whipped around to face the woman who hadn't been there five seconds ago.

She was tall, taller than Makoto and she leaned on heavily on her staff. "But I am a child, as everyone so kindly keeps reminding me." Reni wasn't none too happy about this trap. "Who are you?"

"I am someone you know, someone who has been there through it all." The woman took a step forward and she was cast into the light. She looked not much older than Michiru but she acted as if she had been thoroughly damaged but not even a scar marred her flesh. She smiled grimly at Reni. "I'm punished in this way."

"Punished by whom?" Reni's eyes narrowed.

"The elders." The woman tilted sideways but her staff held her up, but it seemed like more work to lean on the staff and use her arm muscles like that than just to stand straight.

"Who are the elders?"

"Forget about that. You will never meet them." The woman had her legs bare and a short black skirt covered her modesty, but living with some of the women and her mother, modesty was in the eye of the beholder and each person was different in how much they thought they should bare or why they should cover up. A few even went without clothing, even away from the palace walls.

"Who are you?" Reni asked again.

"Little one, what is the matter?" The woman ignored her question for the second time.

"I desire to know answers to my questions." Reni decided being vague was the best route, as the woman was being that way with her.

"You seek answers to specific questions. Who was your father, what was he like, what happened to take him away from you." The woman nodded as if answering another voice, not Reni's. "These answers that you seek will come to you, but not today and not now. They will come to you in a way you'd never imagined. For you will meet him. You will hold his hand and cause him pain. You will ruin things in a way that they've never been ruined before. You will ruin your _mother_."

"I don't want to hurt my mother. If meeting my father will hurt her, then I don't want it!" Reni started backing off, away from this woman. "And what you say is impossible, he's dead!"

"In a way, I suppose he is." The woman took more steps forward, closing the gap between her and Reni. She leaned the opposite way on her staff. "And you will. You will steal the key from around my belt and use it to travel, but be forewarned, it is never the same. You may stand in that very spot a hundred times at the same exact moment but where you end up is always different. Without a guide, there is no way to duplicate anything. And I cannot be your guide, I have already angered the elders enough. I have done more than I should."

"I won't steal any keys!" Reni denied. "I won't!"

"You will, but not today. You have much to accomplish and learn first." The woman tilted her head and her long black hair, longer than Rei's, spilled across her hip. "There is no guarantee where you end up, every time is different, but someone can follow you, if they get there before the gate closes. It is already fated as such. And little one, remember, the past can be changed, it can be fixed to an outcome you desire or ruined in unimaginable ways. What you do is very important."

"The past?" Reni caught that word, disbelieving. "The past cannot be changed, you can not travel through time. If you could, my mother would have saved my father."

"For what use?" The woman shook her head or rather her head rolled in the ways she had intended to shake as if she had no control over it after all. "He'd have just killed himself and your mother cannot go and do something impossible."

"You lie!" Reni sobbed, terrified of all that she heard. "She's powerful, she's the most powerful person on the planet, in the universe!"

"Perhaps, perhaps not." The woman's red eyes reminded Reni of blood and they seemed to weep with it, though no tears fell or even welled and they were firmly fixed on her. "I will set you on your path, as I will not see you the next time. The man you seek, he has black hair and blue eyes."

Then Reni was being sucked out of this strange place, and Reni tried to fight back to stay there, suddenly answers she wanted were being presented. "Please, what was his name? Who are you!"

"My name little one, is P-" Ppp- was all Reni heard as she was suddenly with her back against a crystal wall, where she had started. She stared at the crystal in front of her, pounded on it, but it reverberated as it had always done. A pretty music in response to being touched.

Reni had often stood there and knocked on the different panes, loving how each sounded so close to one another, but yet there was such a slight difference. Reni dropped her backpack on the crystal floor and ran down the corridor to the other side of the crystal wall, she could see her pack quite clearly from where she now stood. She pounded on it until it shattered and she reached her hand through, it was rather flimsy in a way, wasn't it? But it was so strong too. Her fingers grasped the strap of her pack and she pulled it through just before the crystal stitched itself back up. Her hand once bleeding now stopped, her skin shooting off tiny sparks of gold. The blood dried and she rubbed it against her skirt, trying to clean it before anyone noticed.

Was it all just a delusion? Had she imagined it all? Or had that woman, whom she had never seen before truly existed? How could she make up such a terrifying creature? A woman with only an initial. Perhaps she would have called her Puu in another life, unable to do so now was just a testament to how old she was becoming.

Could she really go back into the past? Reni walked down the halls in a sort of daze until she ended up in her room and dropped onto her bed. She stared at nothing, running it through her head, all that P- had said. What had that been, her standing in that same spot at the same time, going into the past? Had she done it before? Had her future self been the cause of all this? No, she couldn't imagine a world where she had destroyed her father. She didn't know him but everyone spoke about how he was someone great. There had been qualifiers, but he had been someone they respected.

But would he have really killed himself anyway if he had lived beyond the day he died? Is that why no one spoke of him, because they were ashamed of the way he went, rather than in memory of the man? That he had killed himself and nothing anyone did would get him to continue living? Did they chose to share only the decent things about him, but hide the rest and to do so, they had to hide his identity?

P- said that his hair was black, which would explain why she was a brunette. She'd always just assumed her father had been a brunette, but black mixing with blond could have done the same. Most likely. Reni stood in front of the mirror and looked at herself. She disregarded the pink hair, remembering the color it had once been. She didn't have her mother's blond tresses. She had always thought it would have been better, at least that way, golden was still another form of color. Her brunette hair had golden highlights that were almost a pale blond when it hit the sun, and if she weren't mistaken, at times it seemed almost... silver.

She didn't take after her mother in that way. She frowned at her reflection, looking closely at her eyes. They weren't her mother's eyes either, they were... too blue, if that were possible, but her mother had blue eyes too, and they were beautiful. Perhaps hers were just a mix between the two. She could accept that too. But every plane, every feature must have come from her father. The closer she looked, the more she thought her mother's face and hers weren't all that similar after all. But it might just be her age, and over time and loss of baby-fat, she would look exactly like her mother. It was too soon to tell.

Reni sighed in frustration. The one person she wanted most to be like, and she didn't see any resemblance except for the fact they both had blue eyes. But Ami had blue eyes too and that didn't mean she was Ami's child.

Reni pushed away from the mirror and sank back down onto the bed. She wanted to meet her father, but not at the cost of her mother.

In bed is where her mother found her later that evening. Reni had missed dinner, which was a surprise all on its own, she could eat everything put in front of her and almost instantly as well. Reni was fast asleep with tears smattering her cheeks and were already dry by the time the long graceful fingers reached out to softly brush them away. There was a soft sigh and then a kiss on the temple. "Sleep well, my lovely little duckling."

–

Reni passed by that corridor where she had met the strange woman every day for a week, but there was nothing. And soon it was her birthday. Happy faces wished her well on her one hundred and twenty-third year. Not a single face had anything but genuine warmth in it, not a single face had a fleck of a tear, not even her mother. Her mother was smiling brightly for a change, happiness infusing every part of her face and that made Reni more suspicious than anything else. Her mother never forgot her sadness, or at least Reni had never noticed this on her birthday before. Maybe it had always been that way but she had never looked close enough.

She began to wonder what else she'd missed. No more answers were forth coming that day or even for the next few.

Then, it was the day she had been anticipating. Birthdays came every year, but so too had this. This though was something other than another year of being the same age she had been. He aged just as slowly as the rest of them, and this year he brought a woman with him.

She had red hair with loops all around her head. Reni wasn't interested in the woman or even the man, she was too busy watching all of the women's faces that did not age like anyone else in the city, but they did not betray anything. Perhaps it was tomorrow that was the real problem.

Reni finally turned her attention to the red-haired woman and thought her odd looking. Even among the inhabitants that were every color under the sun and had unique eyes and clothing choices, this woman did not even dress like the man or behave like him. She seemed as if she were stepping out from another era entirely and hadn't gotten the message that people and things changed. Reni was frowning at the woman, she seemed entirely too... something.

Then Reni's attention turned to the man behind her, this wasn't a big year, why hadn't they come for the hundredth anniversary of her father's death? What made a hundred and twenty-four that much more important? Her breath caught as she caught sight of the man. Long hair, but she'd always remembered that about him, she'd always thought he looked a bit too much like the women she lived with to be completely male. But he was a man. His hair was black. Reni had forgotten the color. On the year one hundred he had brought someone with him, she remembered this now, and he had brown hair. It too had been long and she had thought the same thing about him as she had about this one. She gave him a once look over and turned away, but her head swiveled back as he handed his female companion off to the blond woman on the stage. He had blue eyes. A voice whispered in her head and she couldn't help her feet as they took off towards them. She lunged and wrapped her arms around his neck, her legs around his body.

"Are you my father?"

There were several gasps even before the question and then silence reigned long and awkward. Finally he gripped her waist and slowly pried her away from him. "No, I'm not. Chibi-Odango. I wish I were though, things might have turned out differently then."

Reni frowned at him, not understanding. "But you and my mother could still-"

"Reni!" The voice was sharp, sharper than Reni had heard for a long time. "This is highly inappropriate and would not, and could not happen."

The man chuckled as he tweaked one of her buns on top of her head. "Not to worry, I completely understand. It is a difficult time for her."

Makoto scooped her up as if she really were a misbehaving child that needed to be distracted. "Come along duckling, come along." She stood by Makoto the rest of the day while the ceremony took place. There were several people who had fallen that day and all were remembered but no names were spoken. The new woman sniffled as they accounted for the body toll by the hour. So many had fallen in that first wave, then fewer and fewer as the senshi had manged to protect the innocent. But then three fell at once, a surprise attack that had been thought to be stopped. Then several more until finally, at midnight, the gong tolled for those who had been lost the entire day.

Nobody really spoke this day, for many who had fallen were responsible for the way life was now. Innocents, those who had chosen to fight, all of which provided the way for the time of peace they now lived in. All had lost a family member somewhere along the chain of things. Then in the predawn hours when many had finally given into sleep, fireworks erupted.

No visitors from visiting planets were allowed in on this occasion, except the man who came every year and anyone he brought with him. The fireworks symbolized the end of the war, the people the victors. The entry once more to any who wished to talk of peace and the future. The past was put into its place and would be left there until this time next year.

Reni watched it all from her window, loving how the light from the fireworks often were at odds with the lights from the houses, casting garish color combinations, but sometimes they worked and it was beautiful in its own right.

She slipped out of her room to go to the kitchen and see if she couldn't get a glass of milk from the staff that would just be coming on duty, having the entire previous day off to mourn with their families. Though now the generations were so far removed, unlike Reni, that it was just a lesson in a history book for them.

She had to pass her mother's room and was surprised to hear voices, but they weren't the familiar voices she had grown up with. There was her mother's, of course, but another one that she hadn't heard until just recently... It was that man's voice.

She decided to forgo her milk to listen in.

"I have tried, I have tried as much as I could to emulate her. But I am not very good at it, she has tried my patience many times. I'm not her, I could never be her. I don't know why she laid this at my feet to bare. I know I have help, but looking at her, I see _her_. I'm trying the best I can, but it's getting harder and she's asking smarter questions. I can't dodge her for much longer. Soon she will know everything and I fear I might lose her. But all I want is to protect her in a way I have failed to do so many times already."

"I'm not around as much as I should be, but I can see what you mean. It is so clear. But I see him too. She doesn't have her... heart."

"She has plenty of heart, she's just better at hiding it, like him." The woman sobbed. "She has the very best and very worst traits from them both. She had his temper, his quick reactions and ability to use the anger for very devastating results. But unlike him, she's emotional, and she doesn't understand it because she's so smart, and analytical, everything has a reason and emotions don't always. So things can get out of hand quickly. I... I fear what will happen when she starts hitting her teens."

Reni listened in on this conversation between her mother and the man who came to visit, who fit the description that P- had given her. Her mother was bearing her heart to this man and Reni wondered for the first time if this was her father. That everyone had lied to her, that he was still alive. P- had said that he was dead, in a way, which meant that he could still be alive and only part of him died, his love for her mother? She'd have to disregard everything P- had said about time travel, but it made a weird sense. Ok, so he was being a friend and listening now, but that didn't mean it wasn't true. He could still be friends but not want a relationship. Divorce still happened.

Ok, so he never once made an overture to her as a father, but he had been warm towards her, even while giving the 'stay away' message. Maybe, as he told her only this afternoon, he wasn't her father at all. Only that he was an old friend of her mother's and came to pay his respect to those who died that day protecting this planet. That he had lost many in the fight, including his brothers.

Maybe the man was her uncle! Reni warmed to that idea, ok, so he might not be her father, but he could be her uncle and her father wasn't from this planet. That idea sat better with her, they didn't talk of her father not because they were ashamed but because they were protecting the sibling that still lived, protected her from knowing that she was half alien. That's all right, maybe that's why she aged so slowly. At least then she'd know. At least she'd have someone to look at and get an idea of what her father looked like, maybe he could even tell her what her father was like. What he was like even so far back to when these women didn't know him, when he was a child and if they were similar at all.

Maybe he could take her to his planet and she'd finally find a home that suited her. One that accepted her and that she felt a part of. She'd be one of the masses there, not something strange, like she was here. She wouldn't have to struggle to fit in, and still be cast out. Then she wouldn't have to go to her past and meet her father and ruin her mother. Though, the way her mother spoke, Reni fizzled out. The way her mother spoke, if she left, she'd ruin the woman anyway. She didn't realize her mother cared that deeply about her, worried that strongly or depended on her or protected her as much as she did. Reni didn't realize she was causing her mother so much grief and asking these questions were just making it harder on her. Perhaps the other female in this conversation was Reni's grandmother, either paternally or maternally, it wouldn't matter if her mother was close to the woman.

Maybe leaving would stop being a reminder to her. Maybe leaving would hurt her more, as she so said, she was causing such opposing emotions in the woman who the most important to her, someone she loved so much. Reni didn't know what to do and she ran from the hall crying. Her mother's study was one of those rooms that were so well insulated that nobody could see in or out. What happened inside was concealed unless the door was left ajar like it had been now. So nobody saw Reni run or knew she was even listening. It was too much to handle and too many conflicting thoughts. Reni had to think it through, had to sort it out and then get more information. Reni couldn't act yet, because it wasn't time. She, like the problem that was facing her this entire time, was that she didn't know enough.

She would never know enough until she met her father face to face and could understand him. These women, all except maybe her mother, didn't know him well enough, didn't see how he ticked, who he was beneath the surface. If she was like him in that way, she could understand that well enough. Nobody understood her either, even her mother wasn't always sure what was the best way to deal with her or knew what was really the matter. If she could just meet her father, then she would know, would know if he had heart or not, or if he was just good at hiding it. But it always came back down to the idea of ruining her mother for a chance to meet her father. It might not be a foregone conclusion though that her mother would be ruined. Perhaps she could save the woman the pain, somehow.

Decision still unmade, Reni decided she had to sleep on it before any final conclusions could be drawn and a course of action could be laid out. But tomorrow they had more guests arriving. Important ones from the moon. They had chosen to inhabit the moon against her mother's wishes and compromised slightly by agreeing to inhabit the dark side of it, the one facing away from the Earth. Her mother still didn't agree, wanting to know where they came from originally. Tomorrow they'd all find out.

* * *

EAN: On a completely different note, by the end of September/mid-November, Undressing Secrets and Cactus Ambush will be getting a complete overhaul, similar to "Life's, well, It's-" I cannot promise new chapters, but the ones that are there will be sparkling like gems compared to the rough shine they have now. You ask, why so far away, well, I have other stories that I'm excited to write, like this one, and I'm going on vacay for awhile. But I am interested in those two and will be editing. I have ideas too, so it's not a problem, its just finding the time to write those while writing so many other ones.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The dark haired man that Reni wasn't sure was her father or her uncle stood by her mother's side, choosing not to leave this day as he had in the past. Perhaps her mother had persuaded him to stay, to create an united front that meant business. Why, when her mother was so strong and powerful as to create this world and keep it on its axis? Reni didn't know. If she was her mother, she'd blast everyone out of the solar system she didn't agree with. Perhaps that's why she wasn't in charge and her mother was. Her mother kept the peace well enough.

Reni wasn't allowed on the stage today, and it had nothing to do with her behavior the day before. Reni was watching from the stands with some of the other females, an elevated platform to see and react before anyone else. Rei stood at her side, but dressed in an outfit similar to the one the strange woman had in that dark void. Reni frowned, she'd never seen this outfit before.

Her mother was still in her dress, facing the man off with a calm and calculating expression. What really worried Reni about this meeting was the fact that Rei had an arrow in her hand and it was dangling down by her side, ready to be thrown at any moment. But surely an arrow without a bow was no use at all? It would just bounce off uselessly and it wasn't even that long of one, it was only about six inches long. Completely worthless?

The other women she was raised by were stationed throughout the room, dressed in a similar fashion to Rei and all were watching with a tension in their bodies Reni had never noticed before. What was wrong with this meeting?

Watching, and trying to ignore the possible danger, Reni leaned on the banister and watched the events unfold. Her mother seemed to recoil at first at the sight of the man and realizing that could be seen as a weakness, she straightened and walked forward, with her hand outstretched. "Prince Demando, at last we meet." The man took it with a smile and kissed the back of it, Reni could see her mother's slight disgust that was quickly hidden.

"Ah, you catch me off guard, for you know my rank and name though I had not given it, and yet I know neither of yours." His voice carried through the room and it was silky.

Reni watched as her mother withdrew her hand and tried, not very secretly, to wipe it off on her skirt. "That may be true, Prince Demando. However I might not wish to share either at the moment with you. Not until I get a few more answers. How is it that you've come from Nemesis to land on our moon, when I have distinctly told you that it displeased me?"

"I thought I was here to tell you that." Demando frowned. "If you know everything you need to know about me, then why have this meeting?"

"It was not until I saw you that I realized who you were. Had I known earlier, I would have ensured this meeting never took place. You are to vacate our moon at once and retreat back to your home planet or else there will be consequences you shall not like."

The man's face contorted in fury. "You assume to direct _me_? I am the leader of my people and we will not bow to your senseless demands. You do not know what we have left or what we have sacrificed to get here! I will not listen to a lowly woman such as yourself."

Her mother straightened and the look she gave this Prince was one of such unadulterated rage that Reni had never seen before. She felt a shiver go through her. "You are quite mistaken, _prince_. I am well aware of what you have done to get here. And frankly it disgusts me. You shall leave this land and this solar system at once and if you dare cross our boundaries again you will be decimated at the crossing."

"You must have had suspicions, or are these the type of precautions you take with every alien that comes to visit? I have to say, I have heard of you and your planet before, and the rumors were always quite fair to you and your kind. But then, you are the last of your kind, are you not?" His eyes raked her and found her lacking. "Perhaps there is another who is better suited to work with me. One, not so... blatant."

"I beg your pardon?" Her mother's blue eyes flashed in offense.

"You heard me. I can see right through you. Very much like these walls, no?" He took a deep sniff and a chestier grin crossed his features. "Ah yes, there is someone here with real power. Someone I wouldn't mind dealing with."

"You will deal with me and only me."

"No."

"Get off our land!"

The red-haired woman stepped forward. "Perhaps if I could be of a service. I second her decision. Leave, you have been nothing but rude since arriving."

"I think..." The man smiled. "That you have power too, but he is the one I would respect." The man's eyes swung to the dark haired man. "You have been holding out. Hiding what you have." The man, with his silver hair held out a hand but when the dark haired man batted it away, the white grin disappeared. "Oh you have power all right, but it is not what I smell. Who is it? Where are you hiding the strongest?" He looked around the room. "Sapphire, find it!"

That's when Reni noticed another man, this time a man in a dark navy blue suit. Her heart struggled to beat as she noticed the black hair. She peered closer and she felt her eyes shift and she hurt when she noticed the blues in his face. This man could very well be her father, her mother knew of these two, having met them somewhere before? But if that were so... was she hiding Reni because she feared he'd try to take her away? Maybe he was just dead to her because he chose to join up with this man?

"I am sorry, brother." This Sapphire man told the one in charge of his clan and Reni's hopes soared, he _couldn't_ be her father. The man was frowning. "There is a lot of chatter, but nobody knows who it is you speak of. There are a few I can't read, these few in front of us and the women with weapons ready for an attack. Not that we would." He glanced in Reni's direction. "And a very peculiar girl who is looking for her father, seems to think _I_ could be it." He smirked as he looked at the other dark haired one. "Thought you were too, but now she's settled on uncle."

Someone groaned and then Reni's mind was closed off to him, she put up the guards she had been taught but never thought were necessary. She'd used them before but they gave her a whopping headache if she went too long without taking them down. "Curious." Demando agreed with his brother. "Who is the mother?"

"I hadn't gotten a read on that, but she's unavailable to me now." Sapphire looked up again and he smirked at Reni. "But I still see her. Who is your mother, little girl?"

"Go suck an egg." Reni tossed at him. "You'll have to swallow them whole by the dozen before I give you anything more than what you slyly took from me."

"Temper, temper." Demando chided, and turned towards her mother. "Seems she gets it from someone in this room. Doesn't even know us for a second and already is threatening us. I must say, like mother, like daughter."

"Leave, now."

"Oh I will, but perhaps with a little leverage." He waved his hand and Sapphire shot forth, others appeared beside him, women and another man, this one with red hair.

"Run." Rei pushed her towards the hall and the women now in the strange outfits started closing in, not expecting this attack, but they had been expecting _something_.

Reni ran, not giving her godmother's words any pause for debate or refusal and Reni ran as fast as her little legs could take her. Sounds of an on-going battle raged behind her. Things exploded, light and heat could be felt licking at the back of her neck and on her calves. She felt the presence behind her and she looked anywhere to hide, but with the clear crystal walls, it was near impossible. Reni rounded a corner and tripped, falling headlong into oblivion. Darkness swallowed her whole and the world outside was gone to her.

Except she was still conscious and she could feel the cold ground beneath her. It was a rough material she hadn't felt before but it was solid and hard. Reni got to her feet and saw the old woman in the young body snoozing as she leaned against her staff. Gleaming in the non-existent light was a key, tempting her. But Reni didn't want to go to the past, she didn't want to destroy the things that were her life now. She wanted her life to remain the same, she really did. She loved her mother, she loved her guardians. Life was good.

At the moment, maybe not so much. She could hear the pounding against the non-existent door, realized that they were close and _would_ find a way in after her. They were strong and dangerous and she'd never seen anything like it before. Not from any of their visitors. All of those that had come had come for peace and alliance. These people came for war before they even met.

And they wanted her.

But if she went, she would never give her family a chance to prove they could beat the enemy. She'd have gone to the past and changed everything. Would this enemy still attack if that were the case? Or... would it be worse when she came back, having ruined her mother? Made her weak? Made her vulnerable to this attack? For despite all the man Demando had said, her mother was strong and a fighter and capable of putting him down. But was she capable of doing so before he got to Reni? She heard a crash somewhere behind her and light made pock-holes into the darkness and knew they were getting through, that her mother hadn't been able to stop them yet.

Reni lunged for the key and vowed she'd do her best to stay out of the way, stay out of trouble. She wouldn't change the past and to do so, she couldn't tell them anything of the future. Except maybe ensure that she met her father and maybe, perhaps, possibly, that he stayed alive.

But how could she find him in a land she didn't know? In a world inhabited by people she had never met? Who had been long gone before she came into existence? For all she knew she could be entering a world with only black haired and blue eyed men. Maybe she could find her mother and _she'd _lead her to him? But maybe all the women were blue eyed and blond. Though she knew seven stories to discount that idea. Her hand grasped the key, it was her only option.

The woman woke up when she felt a tug on her waist. Reni didn't suffer the hope that this woman could protect her, she could barely stand on her feet. But a hand reached out and clasped firmly on Reni's arm, so firm and strong that it would leave bruises. "Trust Sailor Moon, trust in her like no one else. She will save you."

"Sailor Moon? Reni asked absolutely confused. "I've never-" But she was being pushed through a set of doors she had never seen before, and she went flying, expecting to crash at any moment, but she just floated in a kind of status. Gray mist swirled around her and she missed the lights and colors and sounds of her world almost instantly. At least in the room with the old woman in disguise, black was still a color she knew. Gray was absent of any warmth, at least this gray was. She felt cold and alone and sad staring into its swirling vortex.

Then just as she was starting to get numb to it, and think it would never end, she landed painfully on her butt. She was back in that dark place but she was narrowly ducking to avoid the staff. "Who do you think you are? Coming into my realm without my permission and through the gates? That is forbidden!" The woman who weilded the staff was nothing like the woman she had just left. The bullet description might be the same, but she held a strength and youth the woman before her had none. She did not need her staff to act as a cane, she was strong and sure of step. And her hair, when it came into the light wasn't black like Reni had thought, that was an effect of age, but it was a dark green. She was also furious with Reni, not chiding.

"Please stop! You sent me!" Reni held up her arms to block another attack but none came.

The woman known only as P stood for a moment looking at her and then she gasped, shaking her head. "No, you couldn't have, not _now. _Not when everything else is going on. You were supposed to come in the time where they had no enemy."

"Every time you go through the gate without a guide, you never know where you'll end up." Reni repeated the woman's words, having a gut feeling that this woman wouldn't have known that. At least not in quite the same context. "It doesn't matter if you start from the same place."

Reni looked behind her at the swirling mass of gray, the doors were still wide open and the woman's face paled further. "Get out of here, go!" She pushed her towards the black obis across the room as the woman struggled to close the doors. "If I can only end it before they come, they might be stuck in the time warp and then cease to exist."

She was inching the door shut just as Reni was being pulled out the other way, but Reni wasn't out before the door P- was working on was flung wide open again and P went flying off her feet. Slipping into the shadows just as something came through and just as Reni was knocked out of this strange place. The gold and silver key still clutched in her hand. "P-" Reni yelled as she fell, wanting the woman's help, this one could have done her some good, but it was no use. Suddenly she was in clear blue skies and puffy white clouds and the sun was shining brightly.

Down below were rolling green hills, a green Reni had never seen before, they did not sparkle and shine back at her as if laid under glass. They were a vivid and bright green and several feet below her with no ground for purchase. Reni realized then she was approaching the grass quite quickly. She was falling.

She thought for sure this was all some long and elaborate way to kill her after her hundred and twenty-three years, but when she landed, it was not as hard or as painful as she would have thought. In fact, it was kind of squishy. Reni's eyes were tightly closed and so she reached out and poked at the thing she landed on. Was the grass of the Earth eons ago really soft and bouncy? If so, why didn't they keep it?

"Hey, hey, stop it!" Her hands were batted away, but it wasn't in a painful way, just that she was being a nuisance but didn't want to hurt the one that was being batted.

Reni opened her eyes and looked into a pair of cerulean blue eyes. Reni blinked as if to clear hers. She could have sworn she was looking into a mirror with her nose pressed against it, if it weren't for the fact that Reni could see the rest of the face as well as the eyes. "Oh god." Reni couldn't believe it, she looked like this female. Could it be her grandmother? Or even... _great_ grandmother? If it were either of those, then she was in some very big trouble. Without the women guardians, her godmother, the others or her parents, how on earth could she possibly hope to survive? The guardians and... this Sailor Moon were supposed to protect her. Without them, she was doomed.

Reni's blue eyes narrowed in annoyance and a determined frown came across her features. Well she'd just have to live long enough for this woman to produce her mother or her father and then watch them grow up to be her saviors. Even if she had to wait a couple of generations. In this world, she bet she could hide better than the last, and really, she'd live that long and be none too different, possibly ten by the time they found her.

"Are you all right?" Another voice called out. "Where'd she come from, anyway?"

"The sky." The woman under her sighed under her breath and Reni realized she was still sitting on her chest. Reni scrambled off on shaky legs. "Must be Tuesday."

"You are very strange." Reni said caustically.

There was a mischievous smile along the girl's lips, for really, that's all she was, a girl in a developing body. "You're not the first to say that either."

"Odango!" This time the new voice sounded slightly annoyed and Reni turned at the familiar tone, eyes widening, perhaps they were alive too, and waiting for the offspring to be born, not aging either. Reni's look was hopeful, and a person with long black hair came closer.

Confusion colored Reni's face as the voice she recognized filtered into a name and a face and it wasn't who she was expecting. Not at all.

* * *

EAN: AM, there's a telling absence of many a senshi... but I couldn't get in to all of that without bogging the story down. Hints are in ch.2... and even some in chappy 3... :)


	5. Chapter 5

Ah! I'm back in action! Oh... it feels good to be back with you. I've missed you. Have you missed me? I was gone for so long that my computer had dust on it. I can't believe that it was technically only 8 days. When I was gone for 10 it seemed a lot shorter. Strange. Anywho, give me a shout out if you like this chapter. I wrote it just for you!

* * *

Chapter 5

Reni looked at the man with the black hair who had it down passed his waist and tied into a tail with a band. He held out a hand for the other woman and helped her to her feet. "Are you able to walk?" He teased and Reni watched him watch the girl blush. He seemed drawn to the teenager. Perhaps this is why he said that he could not be with her mother, later on, in the future, because he liked this girl.

Then a strange idea entered her head. "Could you be my grandfather?"

When the two people turned to look at her in surprise, as it was the first words she'd said, she colored brightly when she realized she'd said it out loud and it was a rather strange thought. Especially not what two teenagers would be expecting at this point in their ages. But it kind of made a weird sense, him being an alien and coming to this planet to impregnate a female. Then sticking around to watch his child grow, get someone pregnant or become pregnant and then appear every so often when the inhabitants of this planet booted him off, so he could check in on his grandchild. Reni didn't think it was much before that, couldn't possibly be. And he was an alien with powers, so he'd at least understand the basic concepts, even if the girl didn't. The girl might not know anything of their world. Reni had to cover for her mistake and he might not know about time travel, she hadn't.

"Sorry." Reni muttered. "I just meant you look like the pictures I'd seen of my grandfather when he was a teenager." Which was a total lie, nobody spoke one word about her grandparents, it was as if they never existed. Even her mother never talked about her parents, even in a way to offer advice, like 'my parents gave me this pearl of wisdom that I'm going to pass onto you', or anything else like that for that matter. Reni wondered if her mother didn't like her parents, or just didn't care.

The blond and blue eyed stranger laughed. "You've got that wrong, sweetheart, nobody would ever dare dream of casting Seiya into that role. He's too much of a rogue."

"Never caught you, did I? Can't be that successful, and hence not actually one if that were true." Seiya looped an arm around her waist and tugged her closer.

The stranger tried to dislodge herself from his side, but he held fast. "You never had a chance." She gave him a let down smile. "Even if I weren't otherwise engaged."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Seiya dropped his arm. "I still say its still early days."

Reni watched them with curiosity and realized that they were older than she originally thought. They just both looked really young for their ages. "How old are you exactly?"

"Never ask a woman her age." Seiya winked at Reni. "But since I'm the same as she is, I'll tell you mine. I'm nineteen."

"Ah, see, another mistake, music man. I'm younger than you."

"By a week." Seiya argued. "You'll be nineteen tomorrow."

"But that isn't until tomorrow." The girl he'd called Odango argued. Reni tried to back away slowly and unobserved, but the blond turned to her. "Hey wait, I wanted to talk to you before he came over and disrupted everything. Where are you from sweetheart?"

"She falls from the sky and you instantly think she's a sweetheart?" Seiya's stance straightened and he angled himself between the two females. "Just because she's small-"

"Not everyone is Mouse." The girl argued.

"Not everyone is peaches and cream either."

"I gave you a chance, didn't I? And even Mouse came around at the end, but it wasn't her fault."

"She was sadistic and enjoyed every moment of it until you started thwarting her plans and she was put into a very dangerous position. She only started coming around because she was afraid, not because she was repentant."

"Well she's gone now, isn't she?" The blond hip-checked Seiya out of her way. "So excuse me if I'm not going to be so cynical. Chibi-chibi wasn't so bad, was she?"

"That's because she was an extension of you." Seiya rolled his eyes. "So of course she was good." He groaned. "And we shouldn't be talking so openly about this either, in case we're both wrong and she happened to fall out of a hot air balloon or something."

The blond snorted in a very unladylike manner and Reni watched all of this with something akin to horror. This woman-child was so very strange, she was unlike anyone Reni had met before and wouldn't fit in very well in the future. She was too uncouth, too unrefined to do so. Reni wasn't sure if she disliked the teen or if she found her newest idol. Reni just knew she didn't like the confusion of her emotions and that automatically threw this teen into the cynic camp. Reni felt it was her duty to train the girl on what her future would be like, or at least teach her the manners that would be expected of any child she had.

As for Seiya, well he could be anything to her, uncle, grandfather, father, nothing at all, but he was there in the future and he was almost completely different too. He genuinely loved this woman at his side, perhaps she died in the first wave or something. For the Seiya of the future was much more subdued and wouldn't dream of arguing in this playful banter with a single soul that was left living.

"Oi, Odango, can't you see you're embarrassing her?"

"Embarrassing her?" Odango must have been her name and Reni only reminded Seiya of the girl in the future, or at least the hair style. Maybe her mother saw this girl with it and decided to put Reni's hair in the style as well but could never quite emulate it. Perhaps this was the woman her mother and Seiya were talking about, how they could _see_ her in Reni. Reni could too, it wasn't just the eyes. The eyes could have been scooped out of Odango's head and put into her eye sockets.

Maybe it was the baby-fat that still lingered in Odango's cheeks, giving her the young look that Reni had been mislead by, but her features were something she had seen in the mirror every day. But somehow, on this blond, the features made her look, ok, a little childish, but enchanting as well. This blond was beautiful, beyond beautiful, to a point that it was indescribable but not in the classic sense. She had an almost... angelic quality to her. The personality, not so much, as Reni had seen so far.

Seiya turned to her and lowered himself to her height, and for him, it was only slightly more of a feat than the blond's. "What's your name?"

"Er..." Reni thought fast. She needed a Japanese name otherwise she'd stick out here like none other. So far though she could only think of her guardians and... "Chibi-Usa."

A blond brow arched and Reni felt like she stuck her foot in it. Funny how much Reni had come to desire positivity from this teen, and anything else was like a disappointed kick to the gut. How did the blond do it? This was only an arched brow, nothing of disapproval in the look, just... disbelief? "Chibi... Usa?" Odango asked cautiously and Seiya snapped to his full height, pushing the blond behind him and crab walking her backwards.

"Chiba-san's going to kill me if I let you near this one."

"Oh come on, she's already sat on my chest and poked me. If she had any ill wishes towards me, she wouldn't have sat there in fascination for so long." Odango struggled to get around Seiya but he shook his head.

"Uh-uh, no way. Once we're a safe distance, I'm going to call Chiba-san myself and explain what happened and relay my fears. He'll knock some sense into you."

Reni heard that laugh, it sounded like a banshee to Reni's sensitive ears, had to be to hear all the crystal tones, and she cringed. What was this all about? She was the one that was wasting valuable precious time with this idiot and Seiya, who may or not be related to her. Her life was in serious jeopardy and Seiya was acting like the blond's was? She had to get moving before anyone came through looking for her. Perhaps P was doing a good job at keeping them off? Perhaps she had taken them out and Reni was worried for nothing?

"Get out of my way, idiot." The blond pushed passed Seiya and came to crouch by Reni. "Ducky, why don't you tell me what's going on?"

Anything else she might have called Reni and she would have probably given something to relieve that nervous tension that popped up around these two teens, but that name hit way too close to home and Reni swallowed back the fear she had for her family, the family she had left behind. "No way." Reni was now super cautious, she hadn't gotten a good look at the women with Sapphire, perhaps she was trying to trick Reni into admitting who she was. With a sob she turned and bolted, not knowing where she was going.

She heard footsteps behind her as the female took off after her, and the man's following a short curse. "Come back, I'm sorry if I said something wrong, I only wanted to talk!"

"Odango, stop running! If she wants to talk, she would have, you don't know if we're getting ourselves into a trap. It's a perfect way to lure you, you big softy!" He must have caught up to her, because suddenly the feet stopped and Reni didn't even hear their voices anymore but she did hear some strange squealing sound.

Reni continued to run, not knowing where she was going or if she was getting anywhere. Then she was climbing a hill and when she reached the top she spun and looked out over what lay below her. It was... a familiar sight in a way, but completely foreign to her in so fundamental a way. The size was much larger, but the area might be free of the prism of colors, but it was home. This was Tokyo of the time long ago. This was where her home would be in not so many years, at least where human kind was concerned. A generation, maybe two and everything would be different. Then it would be hers and she'd be coming right back here. Full circle in an endless cycle of crazy.

EAN: I'm surprised, but I'm actually kind of enjoying writing this story. Thanks for your reviews and your visits! I love hearing from you!


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Reni wandered the streets for a long time. Eventually when night fell and lights flickered on, she'd looked up to see the prism of colors, but was sorely disappointed when all she saw was amber glows casting a soft light down on her. It did nothing to cut through the darkness, it only cast a strange tint on all the inhabitants she saw within the planes of glass in each home and tower she walked by. Thick walls of a solid material hid the rest of the homes from view. She never felt so closed off before.

At least at home people couldn't hide like this, couldn't shut her out from seeing in to a life she'd wanted. She felt alone, truly. She didn't even know if people were in there unless they had the light on or were by a window. She always knew she could turn to any one of the inhabitants in Crystal Tokyo and they would shelter her until one of her guardians brought her home. It didn't matter if they liked her or not, they were there for her. It was expected and everyone did what they were expected to do.

That girl from earlier this day, she would not survive. Reni had a very good idea that the blond did anything but what was expected. And it was more than that, it was human decency and in such a small community everyone knew everyone. The rumors would get around if they didn't help the princess. The one child that held such a high rank even at her appeared age.

Reni wandered lost, she didn't know where to go or who to turn to in this large, unfamiliar city. On the ground would sit her land, but that wasn't here and now. Even five years from now would be completely different or five years in the past. She knew this much about the land that her parents came from. Things changed and they changed quickly. You only just got it under your belt and then it was different. And Tokyo in the twenty-first century, well you could spend all her hundred plus years wandering every street and you would still not see everything it had to offer.

She eventually found herself some more of that green stuff that looked like grass and there were large brown things with more green things. She thought she read somewhere that these were trees. She entered the area that seemed designated for it, such a small area for nature and closed off from any connection to its kind. She found a cold metal bench and curled up onto it, shivering and her eyes open and watchful of all the strange things that happened at night. There were weird sounds, a hooting, a buzzing, squealing of tires, voices in the distance. A soft breeze played with her hair, but all it did was make her colder. She was mindful and weary of all around her, afraid at any moment, something or someone would pop out at her.

That someone would be from her future and would try to kill her. She huddled in on herself, wrapping herself into a tightly coiled ball, ready to spring at any moment away from her current spot.

She was just so cold...

There was someone touching her and she jumped up, high into the air. Higher than most suspected she could jump. It was a person, and someone she had not seen before in a blue uniform, but unlike Sapphire's dark one. The man was looking at her cautiously. "Are you alone?"

"Y-yes."

"Are your parents nearby?" He asked another question, tone filled with authority. Reni was still confused how he got so close as to actually touch her without her noticing him. Then it hit her, she must have fallen asleep.

"No."

"Who are your parents?" The man asked, taking a step forward.

"Dunno." Reni shrugged and the man frowned, thinking she was purposefully being unhelpful, or that she was an orphan. Neither were true yet neither were wrong.

"Have you got parents?"

"One." Reni admitted. "But she's very far away."

The man nodded, assuming she'd been abandoned. "Come on, let's get you to the precinct so we can try and find her. What's your name?"

"R-er, Chibi-Usa."

"Chibi for what?" The man asked, walking her to the police station, which was surprisingly close. Perhaps she didn't look around hard enough, but then again, police were very rare in Crystal Tokyo. Her mother told her about police though and how you could trust them if she ever did meet one. But then again, Reni could trust anyone she met as long as she didn't hand them her emotional trust. That's something she entrusted to very few.

"Usa-" Oh, what started with Usa? Cat- neko, dog- she forgot though if someone told her she'd remember she knew it, Usa, usa, usaaa-gi! "Usagi!" She announced cheerfully. That was some type of animal, wasn't it?

The man stopped on the steps and looked back at her. "Usagi?" He repeated slowly, as if unsure he heard right. Reni bobbed her head, happy that she got that right, even if he was looking at her weird. "As in Tsukino Usagi?"

"Er, yes, that's right!" She bit her lip, looking up at him innocently.

"I'm going to have to have a chat with your father. Though... I could have sworn you were older." The man frowned. "Kenji's daughter?"

"Of course!" Reni had absolutely no idea what this man was talking about and as he rubbed his chin in thought, he started back up the stairs.

Reni followed behind and they walked into a busy police room. Phone calls were going off all the time, people were dialing, talking smoothly and quickly. Pens flew across paper. Reni frowned at that, paper was still being used? Much less _pens_?

"Hey chief, you'll never believe who I found. She was lost." The man frowned and turned back to Reni. "Wait a sec, you say you're Kenji's daughter, but that your only parent is a female?"

"Uh..." Reni felt the trap closing in on her. "No! I'm sorry, I thought I heard you say granddaughter!" She crossed her fingers behind her and prayed that the man was old enough to have grandchildren. If he was in his early twenties she'd be caught for sure and she didn't want to use magic in front of so many people.

The man paled. "I knew his daughter was older. But how old are you, love?"

Crap, should she tell the truth, go older, go younger? She scrambled her mind for a good answer and blurted out the first thing that came to her. "Six."

The man was frowning again. "Six and all alone by yourself in the park at this time of night?" Thank god she looked young for her age. And at that thought she had to put her fist in her mouth to stop her from laughing out loud. He'd think her crazy on top of everything else. For was that ever an understatement!

"Let me call your grand-daddy." The man picked up the phone and dialed a number and spoke shortly with the man on the other end of the line. "I've got your grandchild here. She was lost and it's probably best if you come get her. I'm not sure where the parents are. She says she's only got the mother and knew your name. Calm down, calm down, I'm sure there's a perfectly reasonable explanation. No, I don't think a murder is in the cards, and if you commit one, well, it's going to be murder with intent and planning. I'd have to throw you in jail, and then what?" The man laughed as the other cooled to a simmering boil. "Just talk it out when you get home. All right, we'll wait here."

The police officer hung up the phone and turned to Reni. "I know your grand-daddy from school. We grew up together and went our separate ways but we still see each other often and can use the other's expertise."

Reni nodded, none of this mattered to her, she obviously didn't care about who this man went to school with. She just wanted a warm bed to sleep in and food to eat. She'd make a home with anyone for the night and then figure out what to do the next day.

Not too long later there was a commotion in the hall. "Sir, let her go!"

"She's my daughter and I'll treat her how ever I damn well please!" The man shouting was scanning the room while ignoring the protests and whines of the girl he dragged in her bunny-slippers and pajamas by the ear into the room. "Now I want to see this grandchild you've supposedly given me. If there is any truth to this audacity lie, then I will go over and castrate your boyfriend."

"Daddy, please, don't you think you would know if I had a kid?" She had both hands clinging to his wrist, trying to pry his fingers from her stinging flesh.

"I don't know anymore with you, there are so many things I think I know, but then something like this happens. I don't see no damn baby."

"Daddy, I never had a kid." She jerked her head away, finally freeing herself from his pinch. She took several steps back, into the police shelter that probably wouldn't protect her too much. Reni was watching from afar and didn't recognize either of these people. The girl had long blond hair that reached the floor and even dragged a little. She was pulling it back, trying to stuff it into a high ponytail or bun, when the blue eyes landed on her. "Hey squirt! I wondered where you ran off to. Fancy meeting you here."

Reni's eyes widened as she finally connected the voice. The girl from earlier! Why couldn't she get away from this insane female? "You know her?" The girl's father roared and Odango shrugged.

"Well yeah, she kind of landed on me unexpectedly."

"You talk like this about an unexpected child?" The man's face was so red and Reni thought he'd burst a blood vessel.

"Er, yeah." Odango squeaked when her father came at her, ready to strangle the blond. "What's the matter?"

The man whipped around to the child, Reni looked back at him with frightened eyes. "She has your eyes."

"I noticed that too." Odango's mouth twisted. "But that means nothing."

"How old is she?"

"She says she's six." The police officer finally rose lazily to his feet. He dropped a hand onto Reni's shoulder. "I found her in the park, alone and trying to sleep on a bench. Not a very safe spot for your daughter, Miss Tsukino."

"Daughter?" Odango shook her head. "Uh-uh, no way. I don't have a child. I'm not old enough!"

The officer was looking at her with a narrowed gaze. "You do look to be only sixteen."

"See!" The blond said triumphantly. "I told you I could still pass as a child in the movie theater! You just didn't want to try it. All that money, wasted." She shook her head, completely forgetting the problem at hand. Reni looked at her with bulging eyes, what was this girl's problem?

"Should I add fraud to the neglect charges I was thinking of filing?" The officer asked, not distracted in the least. Apparently he was used to erstwhile teenagers.

Even Kenji, the man seemed to cool down enough to think rationally. "My daughter is nineteen, and if the child is six as she says she is, but I'd bet she's more like eight if she takes after my daughter in anyway, then she'd have to be ten when she conceived and eleven when the child was born. I might have lost track of her in her teens, but until then I knew exactly who my daughter was with and where she was at, because I was always supervising her outings. When did you meet your boyfriend?"

"When I was fourteen." The blond told everyone that was now watching this drama.

"As you can see Zhou, this cannot be my daughter's child. Whatever else she is, she is a liar." The man bowed to his daughter. "Forgive me for dragging you out of bed so rudely."

"But she said her name was Chibi-Usagi." Zhou tried to argue. "She knew you by name."

Three pairs of eyes turned to Reni expectantly and she eeped. "I- I was named after Usagi!"

"By whom?" The blond looked at Reni with an exasperated twist, trying to be helpful but couldn't when Reni was lying all the time and digging a deeper hole for herself. She really didn't know who would name this girl after Usagi.

"By my mother!" Reni took a stiff stance. "She told me all about Kenji, her, her brother!"

"My sister died several years ago." Kenji was starting to get angry again, but this time at the little girl who had temporarily slurred his daughter's and his family's name. "You cannot have been told anything by her."

"I am her daughter." Reni latched onto this, with a dead woman there could be no argument, and they weren't denying the possibility of a child. "I was given a letter from her that got wet and destroyed afterwards, but before that it explained who you were and why I was named after... Usagi." Reni still didn't know who Usagi was. It wasn't Odango and it wasn't Kenji. Maybe it was Odango's mother? How did one innocent made up name turn into such a complication?

"Look, she's going into child services if this can't be resolved."

"We'll take her home for the night, see if we can't figure out what's going on and report back to you in the morning." Kenji told his friend and bowed to him. "Thank you for your help."

"Not a problem. I am sorry for the mix-up. Oh, and Kenji, listen to your daughter in the future, she wasn't lying now, you might not have a reason to believe she's lying at all. At any rate, it looks bad these days."

Kenji's lips twisted. "I am well aware. Thank you." Reni wondered what that was all about, probably the mistreatment of his daughter in dragging her here like that. Kenji turned to look down at her. "Come on." His tone was stern and he wasn't at all pleased.

Reni followed out meekly to the car. Odango slowed to Reni's speed. "I'm not sure what you're playing at. But whatever it is, I promise you, if it is anything bad, I will make sure I stop you before you hurt anyone I care about."

Reni couldn't help but wonder if she realized that it was impossible to do so. Especially a ditzy teenager like herself. "I'm not playing at anything." And it was the truth. She had not anticipated this situation at all. She had thought she'd land and find someone she knew who could help her out. But it was all so different and the only one she recognized was Seiya and he was more interested in Odango than helping her. "Why haven't you married Seiya?"

Perhaps she had died in the first wave with everyone else. Perhaps Seiya never married because he mourned the loss of this female. Plain human that she was. But that couldn't be for years yet, plenty of time to marry the man that was so in love with her that he swore off all females since her death. Or maybe they did marry... Reni once again wondered at their connection, it was uncanny that she of all people had her eyes.

The girl choked on her own air, couldn't she do anything right? "Marry... Seiya?" She seemed absolutely dazed at the idea.

"Well yeah, he's your boyfriend." Reni said in a no duh tone.

She blinked several times at Reni, halting just outside the car. "Seiya's not my boyfriend. I don't know how you could confuse a friendly banter for... ew... date Seiya?"

"He'd want it." Reni muttered as the father snapped at them to get in and stop wasting precious sleeping time. Odango opened the door for Reni and they both sat in the back.

Kenji looked in the mirror at Odango. "I am truly sorry for my behavior. When it comes to you and that boy, I overreact. I can't help but be protective of my girl. I can't be held accountable for my actions."

"I don't get why you dislike him so much." Odango returned mutinously. "He's been my boyfriend for almost five years coming this Spring." Odango gave Reni a quick glance, and Reni didn't understand it. "You don't have a problem with Seiya hanging around or monopolizing my time."

"Because you aren't serious about him and even if you were, he'd keep you from getting too serious. Ever since you've met this boy you've been... I don't know, less happy, less upbeat."

Reni lifted a pink and brown brow. Odango was more... Odango? Perhaps it was best if she stuck together with this boy, Odango could use coming down to the Earth a bit more, focus more. Though her mother had her moments too, where she spaced out or was trying to listen and follow along but completely got lost along the way because she stopped paying attention.

"I've never been happier, daddy." The girl said softly, almost to herself. "I have friends that I love, and a man who makes me... complete."

She thought the girl would get farther if she stopped calling the man 'daddy' only babies did that and this girl was nearing her last year as a teenager. But as Reni watched, she was hit by an odd sense of duality, she was this ditz and seemingly shallow but she was also serious and deep. She knew what she wanted and she wasn't going to back down.

"I guess its because with Mamoru you're so completely with him that the rest of the world drops away and we're going to lose you when you marry him, but if you were with Seiya, you'd be just as happy and in love, but he'd share you with us."

"Mamoru shares me with you." Odango shook her head. "He's the first person to push how important family is and to maintain it. You won't lose me if I marry Mamoru. You'll be sick of how much you see me."

"Your mother and I just want you to be happy and to see you as much as we can." Kenji replied earnestly. "At least when you live under our roof, you're required to come home."

The blond smiled brightly, and all traces of unnoticed tears disappeared. Maybe Reni had been too harsh to judge so quickly. She didn't know this girl for even five minutes, what was five minutes of freedom compared with knowing a person? She didn't know the circumstances that had led to that meeting. Maybe the blond was more serious than she gave her credit for and a lot stronger if this conversation was anything to go by. "Don't worry daddy, everything is going to be great. You'll get a son-in-law and over time I'm sure you'll think of him as just 'son' and he'll think of you as dad."

"I'm not alone in this concern." He warned the blond and glanced at the pink-haired child next to his daughter. "Your mother is concerned too that she'll lose her girl. And speaking of mothers, what kind of mother would do this to an eight year old?"

"Zhou said she was six." Odango clarified.

"Oh, I'd bet the house on the fact that she's eight. You were always getting into things for free when you were little. It only stopped when you were ten and refused to be treated like a toddler."

"But that was me, there's no way of knowing what child is six and which only looks young."

Reni sighed and pushed her pink hair back. "I _am_ eight."

"Good of you to join us." Kenji said dryly. "Pretending to be a relation to me is suspect, what is the point?"

"No point, just how it is." Reni batted her blue eyes at him. He laughed and shook his head.

"The only one who could get that look to work on me was Usagi. Nobody else, not matter who they are or how cute, lost, waiffish, whatever, has managed to succeed. She's set the bar so high that there isn't a possibility of competing and has ruined it for everybody else." He sent a smile back at Odango as if she was this person he was talking and praising about.

"Anyways, I am your niece." That would be the correct term, right? Even if actuality was completely false. And she hadn't been trying to look coy or get him to awe and be dumbfounded by her skills. She never did anything like that. Who would she have learned it from and would use it on?

Reni locked eyes with him through the mirror and he slowly nodded. "That's right... I remember her saying something about a child. I forgot that she named you after Usagi. Ikuko-mama will be happy to see you again."

Her fictitious mother wasn't named Usagi after all and Odango's mother wasn't named Usagi? Then who was this Usagi they kept speaking about? The girl named Odango was looking at her father with a frown set heavily into her features and then it cleared and she snapped her look at Reni in shock and understanding. "What did you do? Undo it!" Usagi demanded, reaching out for Reni's arm. "Undo it now!"

"Usagi-chan, you should talk nicer to your cousin." Kenji frowned at her. "I thought you were supposed to be looking after her today. Is that why she ended up in a park at this time of night, alone?" Kenji was back to blaming Usagi and Reni felt a little guilty that she laid it on a little thick. So this girl was named Usagi... Reni squinted her eyes at the blond, trying to understand the other name.

"Odango? Because your hair looks like dumplings? People think the buns on your head are _odangos_?"

Usagi scowled. "You have a similar hairstyle." The blond squeezed one cone on her pink head. "And I'd say yours are more bun-like than mine are. Mine are more like... knots. They pass through and if it were on a rope it would be a simple knot."

Reni's eyes narrowed in return. "You know, Seiya calls me Chibi-Odango?" Reni's mouth twisted to be like Usagi's. "Can he get any more annoying?"

Usagi held the blue gaze that was so much like her own for a long time, then her lips twitched and she started laughing. "All right, you're not half bad. If you think Seiya's annoying, you're already high on my marking for someone I could like."

Kenji laughed in the front seat. "Usa-chan, you like everyone."

"Ah, but not everyone is so high up there." Usagi wagged her finger at her father. "And to answer the earlier question, no, I didn't even know she was coming. Then when I saw her this afternoon I didn't recognize her, as it had been _so__long_ since I'd last seen her, if at all, and I wasn't expecting pink hair." Usagi batted her eyelashes at her father and the man laughed and looked back at the road. Apparently it was this blond, who alone, could melt her father's resolve and give in.

Reni would have to learn that trick, and how to do it well. Though she had her own methods. Reni eyed the blond next to her, curiously this time, rather than critical. She looked so young but as she leaned back against the seat, she seemed to have all the self-assurance of a confident and mature woman to carry off something so casual but put-together. Her father must have noticed too, because there was a tense line around the rim of his mouth, but he said nothing.

All too soon they were pulling in to a driveway and the gates closed behind them. Reni didn't know _too_ much about twenty-first century Japan, but she had a feeling that they were pretty well off, just by driving around and observing.

"Come on, let's go say hi to Ikuko-mama, I'm sure she's worried." Kenji opened the door for Usagi and Reni slid out after her.

Ikuko was in the hall waiting for them and when she saw the pink haired child, a look of confusion crossed her features. "And who's this?"

"This is my niece, Chibi-Usagi." Kenji reminded Ikuko.

"But you don't-" Reni stepped in front of Ikuko and the woman died off what she was going to say and turned it into a correction. "I mean, you don't- have any idea what time it is. I have been sick about the fact that I missed you at the platform. Where did you disappear to?"

Reni was aware that Usagi was frowning behind her, a look of concern clearly across her features but Reni concentrated on Ikuko instead. "I don't know, but then suddenly I was in the park and saw Usagi and Seiya. However I didn't know it was them and when Usagi was trying to be nice to me and calm me down, I ran. I'm so glad Zhou could find me." Reni knew she was laying it on thick. Just then a boy came stomping down the stairs and Reni wondered if she'd have to bewitch him too.

He took one look at her and lifted his eyes to his parents with a raised brow. "Usagi and Mamoru already started on procreating?"

"Shingo!" Ikuko sounded scandalized and took a frantic look at her husband. "This is your cousin, and you shouldn't talk that way in front of them-I mean- her!" But the damage was already done, and Kenji straightened up, his early fears coming back to him.

"Shingo, take Chibi-Usa upstairs and get her a bed ready." Kenji barked and Shingo didn't hesitate to obey. He took Reni's hand and she cast a look back, wondering what was going on downstairs. Shingo didn't seem to question the new relation at all and so Reni didn't need to insert that knowledge.

After Shingo set her up and then disappeared back into his room, not wanting anything to do with his family, even distant relations, Reni tried to get back downstairs before she missed too much. Apparently she didn't miss much at all. "Are you pregnant?" Kenji demanded.

"No, daddy!" Usagi denied the accusation.

"Then why are you rushing things? You should go to school, get your education paid for."

"The education will be paid for anyway." Usagi argued. "Why not save money in different ways?"

"Because you should be focusing on your studies and getting your career advanced. You're too young to get married. You might meet someone with a better paying job in a better area and lives in a better home if you wait."

"Daddy, those things don't matter to me and if it did, I'd be dating Seiya, not Mamoru." Usagi chided. "And Mamoru has all those things."

"Mamoru comes from mixed background, who knows what his parents did or who they came from? You could be getting yourself into anything."

"Dad." Her voice was firm on this, as if he'd stepped over a mark she wouldn't allow to be crossed. "Mamoru's family name is Chiba, if he comes from one of the only branches of Chiba in Tokyo, then he's got a family line far greater than you could ever hope your daughter would marry into. As for recognizable names, where do the Kou's come from? They appeared out of nowhere and made it big, it just goes to show you that it doesn't matter who your family is to be respectable, only if they raised you right. Mamoru didn't have that advantage, but he's a prince among men."

Kenji seemed more subdued as if he acknowledged she was right. "Fine, but you've been waiting, right? There's not a single chance that you could be pregnant. There won't be until you're married." When there was silence from Usagi, Kenji's voice got more anxious. "Right? Usagi? Right?"

"If you're asking me what I think you are, I cannot tell a lie." Usagi responded dryly.

"Usagi!" Kenji bellowed and Reni jumped from her position on the stairs. What had just happened? Then suddenly Usagi was running towards her, but her head was turned back towards where she had come from, not seeing Reni and tripping over her. Usagi face-planted into the steps and when Usagi flopped onto her back to avoid squashing Reni, the girl could see a red line across the older girl's nose. Usagi was breathing heavily and then pushed herself up to her feet and was running again, until there was a door slammed and Reni was sure locked.

Kenji was pacing furiously downstairs and Ikuko was trying to calm him. Reni knew better than to go down there and so she followed the blond's direction. The door that was closed was the one that had Reni's bed in it too and so she knocked softly. Usagi peaked out and opened it wide enough for Reni to come in and then closed the door once more and locking it.

She had a slim pink thing held up between her ear and cheek as she stripped the bed so she could get in momentarily, as soon as she changed. "Mamo-chan, I really don't think it wise for you to come around here for awhile. No... I- there's been a development here, Seiya probably told you about it. No I'm fine, and that's not the problem. There was a lot of questions stirred up and... daddy's not too happy with us. Probably wont be for a while. I'll be getting a lot of flack, unless he decides its better just not to know or ask any questions. He'll probably ignore the whole thing once he settles down. Or lock me up and never allow me to see another male for the rest of my life."

Reni thought that Usagi sounded very girlish and even childish as she talked to her _real_ boyfriend. Reni would have to see them interact to believe it. So far Seiya seemed like such a good option. What were they really talking about, anyway? Reni turned to her bed and froze as she saw a black cat sitting there. Reni frowned, wondering why it stirred up memories in her mind. Peering closer she could see a golden crescent molded into its forehead. Reni reached out to touch it and she was swatted away, with claws exposed.

Reni jerked back and fell over, staring at the cat with fear in her gaze. "One sec Mamo-chan." Usagi caught the movement and turned to them. "Luna, back off." She hissed and must have heard something on the other end of the line. "No, no, it's fine, seriously. Don't worry, _please_. Fine, tomorrow." Usagi snapped, hung up the phone and tossed it on her bed. It rang instantly and she snatched it up and pressed it to her ear without a single hesitation. "No, I'm sorry, no, _I _am. Don't apologize, you have every right." Usagi turned away from Reni and the cat and hunched over the phone as if it would make it a private conversation rather than half of one. "I'll see you tomorrow, and Mamo-chan, I love you so much, it's hard to wait these few hours until then."

Rolling her eyes, Reni returned her attention to her bed, but the cat had not moved, still sitting at the head and watching her with very smart eyes. Reni inched away and turned to the door, intending to go do her nightly routine with unknown products and hoped it wouldn't kill her.

At that moment, having hung up the phone, Usagi turned and saw the dilema. She sighed in frustration and snatched the black cat up one handed. "Luna, if you don't start behaving I will throw you out the window." Luna hissed and Usagi opened the window and tossed her lightly out.

"No!" Reni protested, jerking forward to save the cat and looked down to see a branch not inches below that was probably wider that she was round. "Oh." Reni moved back as the cat jumped up onto the windowsill, having been used to those kinds of threats and not bothered. "I'll be back." Then she ran out of the room.

When she returned, Usagi was talking again, but this time to the cat as Reni let herself back in. "Luna, she isn't a danger. Chill." Usagi's hand reached out and stroked the cat behind the ears. "I'll be perfectly fine if you want to go mouse hunting with Artemis." Usagi seemed to realize they had company and she smiled at Reni. "Come on, she won't impede in your space." She gestured to the bed near hers, too close Reni thought if either of them weren't to be trusted. But Usagi was a regular girl, like all those children in the city in her future. Sure she was older than the ones Reni knew now, but her mindset was the same.

"Good night." Reni said shortly as she settled into bed.

"Hold that thought. Goodbye Luna." Usagi turned to Reni but the cat only settled down on the chair next to the window and Usagi closed it most of the way in case Luna changed her mind. "Chibi-Usa, god that sounds silly, sure you don't have a different name?"

"No." Reni thought it was silly too when the one she had picked the name after was standing right in front of her. She didn't even realize it was someone's name, much less this girl. "I don't."

"Look, we can be friends." Usagi leaned over the bed to look into Reni's eyes. "We don't have to be at odds with each other."

"I think we do." Reni turned onto her side, her back towards Usagi.

"I am aware of what you did to my parents. I can fight that if I really wanted to. I know you aren't really my cousin and I would really like some answers."

"Never."

"Then you'll have to leave tomorrow." Usagi said with absolutely no room in her voice for argument. "Too many times I have ignored what everyone else has told me and went with my heart. I don't want to kick you out, but if I can't produce some reason that its better you stay here than somewhere else, I can't protect you." Reni could hear purring as if the cat was happy.

"I don't need your protection." Reni curled in on herself. She didn't need anyone but Sailor Moon, and her mother. Reni felt moisture build up along her lower lids and she fought back the emotions that followed. She missed her mother dreadfully, but she was here now and crying wasn't going to change that, and even if it could, she hated crying.

Reni heard some shifting and then suddenly thin arms were wrapped around her. Reni looked at the long white stalks for a moment, comparing them with what she knew. They were even thinner than her mother's and her mother's were thin despite being toned and held a hidden strength beneath the surface. These were surprisingly strong too as Usagi locked Reni's thrashing form to her but they also looked weak and breakable. That thought stilled her and she took in the comfort that Usagi was offering. "I want to protect you. I want to help you in anyway that you need it. Chibi-usa, you can trust me. I'm here for you. I don't know why you landed on me but know that there has to be a reason and even once we find out what it is, I'll still be here for you, no matter what we learn."

Turning, she looked up into Usag's face. "You're a lot more mature than I would have given you credit for."

Usagi smiled back at her. "I'm nineteen, I had a lot of hard years to make me grow up. Learn how to deal." Releasing Reni with one hand, she reached up to push back some of the pink locks. "If you'd landed on me half a dozen years ago, I might have shrieked and hated your presence." Usagi laughed. "Depends when and how you arrived."

"You really meant what you said? You'll be here for me, no matter what?"

"Of course."

A frown crossed Reni's features as she looked at Usagi. "Why?"

Usagi shrugged. "I don't know. It's part of who I am. I never turn my back on a person or _thing_ in need." Usagi threw at the cat, as if the cat would understand and Reni couldn't help but think it might. Though why that statement was important to Luna, Reni didn't understand. "And you need me, even if you refuse to agree."

With reluctance, Reni nodded and turned back so her she was no longer facing Usagi. She heard a sigh and expected Usagi would get back into her bed and leave her to rest in peace. But Usagi didn't move and just held her through the night, Reni must have fallen asleep for when she opened her eyes, the sun was bright and shining. What would this day bring for her?

–

EAN: For all this talk of Sailor Moon 2013, if its not on IMDB then its not real... erg... would be cool though to see them in computer graphics, real shapes and better voices. I just wish that if it were real, they wouldn't lose the heart that Sailor Moon had, with the humor and fun and a bit of a dark edge to it. It'd be nice if it weren't spelled out for you in the beginning too and marketed towards more of an older kid-young adult age, though most of this new generation is a bit... idk about anime. It's still a subcult I think.

EAN2: That was a physically long chapter! Wow. I could drag it out and make it gradually shift, but I'm putting it on a faster pace this time because really, I can only handle so much Rini. Ew... haha...


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

AN: I have to admit to some things about this chapter/story. Reni's eyes and hair was not my idea. As well as something about Mamoru later on in this story. There are a few elements I've adapted as _my_ canon from EightofSwords/Jadeeye. I just really liked it so I'm using it. They're not major plot devices, but they are details that people would recognize in a vague sort of way if one has read those stories. Totally legit, not even borrowing characters, just physical traits and not even all of them, just the ones I really liked.

–

Usagi had stayed by her side the entire night. Protecting her from the black feline? Reni couldn't be sure why, but she knew it for a fact, because when the day dawned, Usagi was still asleep even as Reni rose to her feet. Glancing at the window, there was no cat and so Reni stepped closer, looking out onto Tokyo in the modern era. She leaned against the frame and looked out and a frown floated onto her features. This was not what she was expecting.

The city was massive, but she already knew that. The city was full of gray and tan buildings rising up into the sky. Each building she could see could fit at least half of her city into it. They were ugly buildings too, on the whole. A few were interesting shapes or designs, but most were the same ugly square shaped buildings with gray metals and square windows.

There were plenty of trees and grass spaces but even the penciled in greenery was too sparse. Reni turned from the window in disgust. This was not her crystal Tokyo. They had much to learn. But... Reni could see a strange kind of beauty in it. It wasn't a city made of crystal, it was a city made of steel and glass. It didn't gleam and radiate with the warmth the crystal had, but it did blind in the early morning sun as it reflected the sun's rays instead of consumed them. It was a strange mix of organic and man made. Even the organic was systematically placed.

Though all of that was green. Green, green, green and gray. Even the blue wasn't quite so blue, not like it was back home. But this wasn't home. Or rather is was hundreds if not thousands of years before home was even an idea in one person's mind.

Reni gripped the windowsill and looked out over the this place, she made a decision then and there. She would enjoy it, and look upon it as an adventure. She might be years out of her time, but she could still explore and learn as much as she could. She'd stop comparing it to home, or at least putting it down, it was like going somewhere that didn't have running water yet, it was a challenge and she'd come out the victor.

Her stomach rumbled and she realized she hadn't had anything to eat for half a day or more. She turned to find Usagi still sleeping and so she tiptoed out of the room, unsure what the blond's usual sleeping habits were like.

Reni walked down the stairs and Ikuko was in the kitchen getting breakfast ready. Shingo followed behind Reni not a few minutes later, still sleepy-eyed and hair mused. "Good morning you two. Usagi still sleeping, Chibi-Usa?"

"Yeah." Chibi-Usa glanced upwards, wondering if the girl was all right.

"That's normal." Shingo, sixteen said, rubbing his hair in rye amusement. "Get used to it."

"It's her birthday, she can sleep for however long she wants." Ikuko swatted Shingo's hand away. "And that's her favorite doughnut and you know it too."

"But!" Shingo protested, as that was his too.

"No, chose one of the others." The woman turned a kind smile on Reni. "Would you like one?"

Reni's hand hovered over the one that Usagi liked, she didn't know much about doughnuts but it did look good. Reni grabbed up one next to it, that looked similar. She ate it slowly as Shingo scarfed it down. She was watching these two, it was all so very different. Here, was a real life family, a single unit that didn't share its walls with anyone else and Reni finally got the wish she'd asked for when she was in Crystal Tokyo, living in some place that wasn't the Crystal Palace. Usagi didn't know how lucky she was.

"Where do you get your food from?"

"The supermarket on Grand. I know its a bit far, but I like their food better than the grocer down the street."

Reni nodded, but she had no idea what they were talking about. When she wanted food she could either go talk to Makoto or push a button and it'd come out of the wall. "I personally get my food out of the fridge." Shingo commented in a tone of voice that would suggest that he was being lippy. Ikuko confirmed it by swatting him along the back of the head with her spoon.

"Lazy boy." Usagi mused as she stumbled into the kitchen. "Good morning." She grabbed up the doughnut that was saved for her and bit into it.

"Morning Usa-chan, happy birthday!" Ikuko greeted, coming round to give her daughter a huge hug.

Reni frowned. Last week it had been Seiya's birthday, last week it had been her birthday and now today it was Usagi's? Were they all within a week of each other or did she go to a different time of the year in addition to a different year? "What day is it, exactly?"

"June 30th. There's a lot of summer birthdays." Usagi responded, looking at her out of the corner of her eye. There was something in the depths, as if measuring what Reni said and Reni had to be careful in what she said in response.

"July 23rd."

"Cancer or Leo?" Ikuko asked, leaning on the counter and looking at Reni with fascination.

"What?"

"Cancer or Leo? Crab or Lion?" Shingo explained, getting up for more food.

"I don't know."

"I'll look it up." Shing whipped out his cell phone and started sliding his finger across the screen. Then he frowned. "Says your both. You're on the cusp of both signs."

"Well, what's wrong with that?"

"Nothing, it's just not... definitive." Shingo commented, looking at the screen on his phone. "Say, Odango-baka, you're a cancer right?"

"If that's some kind of slur against me-" Usagi started, not pleased.

"No, no, I just meant sign." Shingo was too distracted to think of insults at the moment. "When did you say Chiba's birthday was?"

"August 6th, why?" Usagi was starting to look curious, angling around to see the screen with him. "What's it say for him?"

"Well he's definitely a Leo and you're definitely a Cancer." Shingo looked at Reni. "Chibi-Usa's somewhat between the two."

"Big deal, Seiya's a cancer too."

"Yeah but he can't reproduce with Mamoru." Shingo was finally looking up from his phone. A teasing glint in his eyes. "Just think of it, brown hair, perfectly neutral, a sign on the cusp between the two of yours. Both fitting each of you... meaning any child will have a mixed personality. Your eyes, when I know for sure I've never seen them anywhere in our family gene pool."

"They come from dad's side." Usagi shrugged it off. "Just because all of you have brown eyes and hair doesn't mean that dad's side didn't have recessive or fully blue eyes. We don't really know our grandparents."

"Still." Shingo insisted, but let it drop, put out when his mother gave him a look.

Usagi rolled her eyes at Reni and the girl giggled, they were a very interesting family and it seemed as if Usagi realized how lucky she was and was soaking it all up. "By the way, now that you've brought it up, where is daddy?" Usagi looked around for him, looking for spying ears, and then she leaned in to talk to her mom. "Mamo-chan's picking me up for the day before the girls steal me for dinner."

"When do you have lunch?" Reni asked amazed. It was already nearing on eleven, and this was probably early.

"About one." Another shrug and Usagi looked at her mom with a steady look, needing to know the answer.

"At work, but he was mumbling something this morning still that if it weren't your birthday you'd be grounded until your hair turned gray."

"But I'd have a birthday every year in there." Usagi's eyes though were dancing as if she were excited about the prospect of her father being at work. "I'll go call Mamo-chan, let him know the coast is clear!"

"I don't think you need to." Ikuko held out a hand and stopped the blond ditz. "He's just walking up the drive now." Then the woman frowned. "Is that Luna out there with him?"

Reni turned just in time to see Mamoru scoop that wretched cat up and hold her at chest level and seemed to be talking to it. Did everyone speak to cats like they could understand? Odd. Reni turned around to attack further food that had appeared when she noticed that he had dark hair. From this distance it could have been any color, but Luna's fur almost blended with it when he bent his head towards her.

Reni whipped back around. It couldn't be. Her breath locked in her ribcage and she felt her heart pick up tempo. She could very well be meeting her father right this moment. She disregarded the fact that he seemed to be here for Usagi, not her mother. That could be straightened out later. Right now, she was worried, she had been taken down so many false paths before. Could this possibly be-?

With a disappointed sigh from Reni as she realized the knowledge would come later, as Usagi raced to the door and threw herself into the man's arms before he even reached the front step. He caught her with one arm, protecting the cat that Usagi had no regard for and kept it from being squashed. Reni wasn't sure if she was happy for the cat or not. Really that was a mixed bag for her.

Watching, Reni moved from her seat to a better vantage point so she could watch. The words were muffled and then when the door finally clicked shut, she couldn't hear it at all. Not that there were many words for awhile. After throwing herself at him, he set her back down onto her feet and let Luna jump out of his arms. Then with a quick glance around, he leaned down and pulled Usagi into his arms, giving her a proper hello kiss. Then a happy birthday one. Reni about gagged at the mushiness of it all. But Usagi was buying right into it, she wrapped herself around his waist and his arm came about to finish the job of cocooning her in his embrace.

They turned and started up the stairs but hesitated. Mamoru pulled the blond back around and said something to her, since the blond's face was away from her, Reni couldn't be sure what her reaction was, but her back stiffened up. Then Mamoru gestured towards the cat that was trailing after them and Usagi's hands started flying every which way. Mamoru slid his along her cheeks and kissed her, for a moment she tried pushing him away, and then just stood there, but eventually her shoulders slumped and she relaxed into the kiss, her hands sliding up between them. Reni looked away, unable to take another moment of this.

The door opened and Reni didn't dart to hide or pretend that she was doing anything else but spying. She faced them head on, because she was curious and she needed to know, refused to let one more moment pass her by.

His head was angled down towards Usagi, and she could make out the smallest hint of a smile. Then he was lifting it, saying something to Ikuko and Shingo and for a brief second, Reni saw all the joy he held for the girl in his arms, and the people who would some day be his family. In that moment, Reni was both insanely envious, and knew without a doubt that he adored Usagi and would never in a million years think of leaving her, let alone allow Seiya room to move in on her. Reni might have thought Seiya loved her, and he did, but this man adored her, his world was set by her. If Usagi died, he'd follow not long after and there wouldn't be even a slight hesitation. Some men might desire retribution, revenge, taking a life to even out what they had lost, taking the one that had taken from them, but Reni didn't know how she knew it, but she did, deep in her bones, that would never be enough for him. If someone took Usagi from this world, there would be no life that could even begin to equal the scales.

Then his face transformed and he tugged the girl into his body even further than how she was already plastered there, like wallpaper, the pretty design to the solid structure underneath. His face was chilly in reception to Reni. She might have thought Seiya had acted out of character and suspicious, but this man was downright scary without setting off alarm bells in the others that were with them. His message was clear and it was only meant for her to read. He would destroy her instants before she could harm a hair on the blond's head. It wouldn't matter who she was.

Instead of cowering, Reni stood her ground and gained a few inches by straightening to her full height. She gave him a look, daring him to try. She was the supreme princess of the galaxy, she did not cow to anyone. Except maybe her mother. A silly grin threatened to escape along her lips, but she fought it down, she did not smile let alone do something as impossible as that. It was not in her. It must be this girl's influence. She had not known her even a day and yet she was contagious somehow. Her idiotic-ness was infectious. Reni wanted it to stop. She needed it to stop. She had to find the cure, somehow. Either a cure or she would cut it out of her.

Maybe the girl wasn't as stupid as she appeared, for she splayed a hand on the man's chest, and he looked so much older than her too, he was a man while she was still a girl. "Come now, Mamo-chan, we were just having some doughnuts." She gave him a small tug, urging him to play nice. Mamoru held his cool gaze steady on Reni for a long time, before he darted his eyes to Usagi.

He gave her a breathtaking smile, it was white and even and genuine. "Doughnuts? Those sound amazing. Lead the way."

"She didn't invite you to have one, she was just informing you of her day so far." Reni couldn't believe the words had popped out of her mouth, she knew he was dangerous, he just radiated it. However he was a big old softie when it came to the blond. How had that come about? "Besides, there's none left."

Ikuko-mama jumped to her feet. "Oh dear, she is right. I got your favorite too. I'm so sorry Mamoru." Ikuko looked at the box as if it betrayed her. "I went to the store to get them yesterday and it totally slipped my mind that Chibi-Usa would be joining us indefinitely. I miscounted."

"Not to worry, Tsukino-san." He took her hand and kissed the back. "I'm not very hungry and Usako's been a bad influence on my diet. I've been gaining weight. I could do to lose out on a doughnut every now and then."

"That may be, but it is still not right." Ikuko blushed as she withdrew her hand from his grasp. "This evening, I'd be honored if you'd join us for birthday cake, you'll have the second biggest piece, after Usagi, of course."

"Of course." Mamoru agreed, amusement clearly on his face. "However there is a slight matter of your husband. I believe I'm not very welcomed here, more so now, that he realizes-"

Realized what? Reni wanted to demand. That you're putting his daughter in danger just by being near her? That she was being pursued by an alien and could not win against someone like that, no matter how strong you were as a human. Or as scary.

Ikuko waved that off. "Yeah ok, but by the time you get here this evening, I'll have taken care of everything. He's living in the past if he believes that you'd wait." Ikuko looked around and her eyes landed first on Shingo and then Reni. "Er, better not talk about this just now."

"Consider the topic dropped completely." Usagi was blushing a bright red and she had put distance between herself and both the other adults in the room. "And let's get going, hmm, Mamo-chan?"

Mamoru cleared his throat. "Of course." He held out his hand for Usagi and she took it and only after she was once more by his side, did he bid the other three in the room a fond adieu. Well, at least Ikuko got a fond one. Usagi walked by Shingo and ruffled his hair. He batted her hands away and went to straightening it out instantly.

Reni was forced to let them go, it was Usagi's birthday and she had been very kind to Reni, she wouldn't ruin this day for her. Reni followed Shingo upstairs and saw him using the mirror to make sure his hair was perfect. Reni rolled her eyes in exasperation, _boys!_

She went back into Usagi's room and flopped onto the bed, but Luna was there, standing guard even though this had been an impulse decision. Without Usagi there to stand guard, Luna was all ruffled fur and foaming teeth and predatory hisses.

Reni slowly backed out of the room. "Ok, ok, I'm going, I'm going. Sheesh."

How could Usagi manhandle the beast and there'd be no recourse, but Reni just had to enter a room and the cat was ready to slash her to bits?

Reni needed something to do, somewhere to go. This Mamoru character had been a massive and annoyingly big dead end. His eyes were not blue.


End file.
